𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 • 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

chapter two

vance practically followed bruce around all day. not that bruce was exactly complaining, he was grateful to not be alone. however, it was the end of the day and now he couldn't find vance. he hadnt been in class. as bruce leaves the school, he can't help but notice the huge crowd near the parking lot. he tries to ignore it, but he can't as he hears the crowd chanting 'fight, fight!' he sighs and makes his way over to the group, quickly noticing it was vance in the fight. he didn't recognize the other kid. he turns to face another guy in the crowd — whom he recognized as finney blake. "what happened?" he asks. "i'm not sure, actually," finney replies. "oh, thanks." the fight escalates until some teachers pull them apart.
    they both got reprimanded, but neither of them got in trouble, surprisingly. vance angrily heads towards the dormitory building after. all the other students had cleared out, but bruce waited for vance — he wasn't sure why he'd decided to. "vance? are you alright?" bruce speed-walks to try and keep up with him. vance stops walking and turns to face him. he looks absolutely pissed, but it doesn't take long for the anger that's visible on his face to fade away slightly. "i'm— i'm alright." bruce frowns, noticing the black eye already forming on vance's face. he looks at vance's hands as well, which are bloody and bruised. "come to my dorm, i have a first aid kit." vance hesitates, then sighs. "okay." a soft smile spreads across his lips.
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bruce's dorm was neat. everything looked like it was exactly where it was supposed to be. "do you not have a dormate?" vance asks. "no, my parents paid for a single room." he hums, leading the other into his bedroom. "oh," is all vance says in reply. "sit." he points at the bed, and vance does as he's told. bruce grabs the first aid kit off his dresser and then sits beside him. "i'll get you an ice pack for your eye after i get you cleaned up." bruce takes vance's hands in his own, dabbing with a cotton ball at the blood all over his hands. "does that hurt?" vance shakes his head. "no, not really." bruce was impressed by his pain tolerance, he couldn't lie. "okay," bruce stands up. "i'll get you an icepack." vance nods in reply. bruce leaves the room, coming back a couple minutes later with an ice pack. he hands it to vance, who holds on it his eye. "ow, that burns. it felt better without the icepack—"
    "leave it there." bruce glares, vance grumbles but does as the other says. bruce sits back down on the bed. "why were you fighting that kid anyway? you dont have to tell me if you don't want to, of course." bruce asks, it wasnt really any of his business so he wouldn't push, but he was nosy. vance clears his throat. "he was sayin' shit about my mom. he kept running his mouth, so i decked him in the face. he was pretty much askin' for it, though."
     "oh." is all bruce says in reply, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. he didn't know anything about vance's mom, of course — he barely knew anything about vance. vance  clears his throat. "speaking of my mom, i don't want want to be late to seeing her." he stands up. "thank you for the help, bruce." he takes the icepack away from his face. "it's not a problem. uhm," he clears his throat. "if you don't mind, maybe i could tag along with you?" what was he doing? why was he asking that? "sure." vance smiles. "that would be nice."
    bruce finds himself smiling as well. "cool, cool. thank you."
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word count: 636
this book is kinda bleh im sorry guys 😕